The age-old complaint of too much to do at home and no equipment to do it on.
Today, women are very busy, from work and raising a family to shopping and everything else. There seems scarce time to squeeze it all in. Working out at the gym just doesn’t seem to cut it with your busy schedule so, whether you work from home or are a working mom, there is a way to get fit.
You don’t need a gym full of equipment to get a solid workout. Simply grab kettlebell and get a full-body workout!
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It seems everywhere you look that trainers and others are constantly taking one exercise, piece of equipment, etc. and making a fad out of it. Well, move over dumbbells because now there’s kettlebells.
In a real sense, there is nothing special about a kettlebell compared to a dumbbell, however, it is easier to grab and overall, this makes things easier in terms of working out with limited equipment. A kettlebell takes up almost no space and can be used by anyone to get a pretty good workout, even advanced bodybuilders.
So, instead of wandering from machine to bench in the gym, grab the bell and let’s get going at home.
You can do almost any exercise with a kettlebell that you can with a dumbbell or many weights for that matter. A great exercise to do with it for the legs is the Goblet squat, as well as other kinds of squats, lunges, raises, etc.
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It’s like Magic
The shape and handle location on the kettlebell make it ideal for certain explosive exercises like swings, snatches, and cleans, all of which originated in speed-strength training brought from Russia to the U.S. by Fred Hatfield and Dr. E.J. Kreis.
You can do just a couple of these exercises for an entire 20-minute workout. And, done in interval fashion, the workout is fantastic. As a matter of fact, the American Council on Exercise found that performing kettlebells in 15-second intervals (on then, off) burned about the same amount of calories as running a 6-minute mile!
By choosing the proper weight kettlebell to begin, you will have the advantage of being able to mix explosive movements with resistance/strength movements to ‘key’ all your energy systems, work your core, and build good foundational strength.
How much weight to choose is not difficult. Go to a sporting-goods store and test the weight for yourself. You need to choose a weight that you can move fluidly and can press about 4-5 times (singe-arm) above your head. If you can press the weight for 7-12 times or more, it is too light. As a rule of thumb, and it’s only a rule of thumb, an average weight load for women is about 5-10 pounds while that for men is 25-30 pounds. The amount is very individualistic and you may find that you can use more or even less weight than those listed. The load also assumes you can press the weight without shoulder or back restrictions due to past or current injuries. If you cannot do this, the kettlebell workouts in terms of presses should not be done.
So, what are you waiting for, give the kettlebell a try.
Following is a very simple workout:
Day 1:
Turkish Get Up – 3 sets, 4 reps per set
Day 2:
One-arm Kettlebell swing – 4 sets, 15 reps per set
Day 3:
Goblet Squat – 5 sets, 6 reps per set
Day 4:
Kettlebell Sumo Squat – 4 sets, 8 reps per set
Day 5:
One-arm Kettlebell row – 6 sets, 12 reps per set
This is just an example, you’ll want to add pushups, situps, crunches, and other exercises as well. Don’t worry about timing everything, just jump into it and keep your heart pumped. If you find yourself getting out of breath slow down and take a brief one-minute rest. Just keep it moving and have fun. Best of all, lots of these movements are full body so there’s great calorie burn.